Improvement in boot-heels



NITED STATES PATENT OFrrete.J

SAMUEL HODGINS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOOT-HEELS.

Specitication forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,943, dated July 25,1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, SAMUEL HoDGrNs, of No. 44 Olive street, of St.Louis,in the county of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented anew and usefulIrnprovement-in Boots and Shoes, which I term a Boot andShoe Heel Regulator, and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable othersskilled inthe art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification.

Almost every person wears the heel of his boot or shoe unevenly.Sometimes it is worn down on the outside much sooner` than at any otherspot on its surface, and ofttimes it is inconvenient to have the boot orshoe haltheeled, and the consequence is that the same begins to rundown, and the counter, being affected thereby, loses its neat form, andmany times the wearing down is at the back of the heel, and if thehalf-heeling is not attended to in good season the boot or shoe islikely to chate the heel of the foot, besides straining the boot or shoeout of its proper shape.-

The object of my invention is to obviate this running down of the heelof the boot or shoe caused by the wearing away of one part sooner thanthe other; and it consists inthe employment or use, in the heel of aboot or shoe, ofa metallic plate extending either wholly or in part downto the lower surface of the heel, or that which rests upon the ground,said plate being bent round so as to correspond with the shape of theheel for the distance it may be desired to have it extend round thesame; and the said plate having its inner or upper end beveled in suchmanner thatacorrespondentlybeveled plate arranged over the same in theheel of the boot may be caused to force it out by means of a set-screwor any other suitable device, and which may be retained in position whenout by a similar device.

To enable others to understand my invention, I will proceed to describeit with refer ence to the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view of thebottom of the heel of a boot with my improvement applied to it. Fig. 2is a vertical section taken in the plane of the line x w, Fig. l. Fig. 3is a similar sectional View, showing more particularly the manner offorcing out and retaining the projecting plate.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

A represents the heel of a boot which has a suitable recess formed initfor a portion of the distance round the same, into which is placed aplate, B, having beveled teeth, which rest againstcorrespondently-beveled teeth on another plate, C, which is placed aboveit in the said recess, and which, or portions of which, extend out tothat part of the heel which rests on the ground.

The plate B, instead of having beveled teeth, may be made inclined itswhole length and the top ofthe plate C made to correspond with it.

a, is a set-screw, one end of which rests against the plate B, and theother extends out near where the shank joins the heel, so as. to be outof sight. b is another set-screw, which bears against the plate Gandextends out of the heel in the same way as the screw a, so as, like it,to be in a convenient place to be operated by a pocket screw-driver orany other suitable instrument. Thus it will be seen by screwing in thesaid screw a the plate B will he moved forward, whiclrwill force theplate O downward so as to project below the surface of the bottom of theheel. Vhen the said plate U has been forced out the desired distance thesaid screw b is screwed down hard upon it, which keeps it rigidly inplace. The plate O can also be made to project out farther at one of itsends than at the other by merely altering the bevel of the teeth on theplate B.

My improvement may be applied to any part of the heel of the boot orshoe, according to the way in which the person for whom the boot or shoeis intended wears out the heel, and it will be found tobe of greatadvantage. Rows of nails have been driven in the heel, and plates havebeen nailed upon the same, and metallic heels of various kinds have beenused to answer the same ends; but none ot' these seem to answer thepurpose fully, for the reason that the metal wears away with theleather, and the heel, though indeed it may last longer than an entirelyleathern heel, yet wears oft' in the places where it is desired to haveit equal in depth or height with the rest of lLhe heel. By myarrangement the plate C tion with the heel of a boot or shoe, arrangedmay be forced outward as fast as the heel to operate in the manner andfor the purpose wears ofgandin this Way the metal itself Wears hereinspecified.

and the heel may be kept continually at a unform height. SAMUEL HODGINS.

What l olanu as my inventioxn' and desire Witnesses:

to secure by Letters Patent, s- GHAs. PETELER, The adjustable plates Band C, in oombna- PETER BERGER.

